London Calling
by jordsbaby
Summary: Dan and Blair have left the bright lights of NYC for a quieter, more idyllic life in the outer suburbs of London. While Dan is content with where he is in life, is Blair the same or is she longing for more?
1. Prologue

**London Calling.**  
A Gossip Girl fiction piece

_**A/N: Just deciding to put some feelers out and see what kind of feedback I can get for this story. I'm recently back into writing and I can't wait to start posting more. It'll probably be once or twice a week depending on how quickly the creative juices flow. Let me know what you think, good or bad reviews welcome, but don't be too harsh. This is a bit of a prologue to the rest of the story. I like a bit of background information, it makes the whole story so much easier to follow for me and for other readers. Enjoy!**_

_**CHAPTER ONE.**_

Dan trudged down the street, his dark curls bouncing in the air as he moved into the fierce winter chill of London. He wasn't concerned about himself though, as he glanced over at the slender brunette he had his hand intertwined with. She'd chosen to wear a poncho, of all things, to keep warm on this exceptionally cold day. Blair's' stocking clad legs grew colder with each step as they tried to fight the chill enough to reach their townhouse a few streets away in Wimbledon. He'd noticed her slowly becoming more and more relaxed as they continued to build their life in London, she'd started swapping her heels for flats, her ankle length booties for knee high boots to keep the chill out. Blair's hair remained straight for many days of the month now, and she only bothered to visit the hairdresser for special occasions. Dan had begun to see a change in her closet too, the slow mixing in of high street clothing hidden between the designer pieces.

Their life in London was simple. Every day Blair would get up, shower and dress, and go to see someone about wedding details. Dan would get up, not shower and hardly dress, then sit in front of the computer in a desperate effort to write another morsel of fictional genius to show the publishers. His last three chapters he had produced were just enough to keep them at bay for several months, but he was nearing his deadline for numbers four through to seven. His last book, 'No Regrets', was a follow up to 'Inside', about the many more mistakes he made on the Upper East Side while trying to declare his love for Blair before she married Louis. The book had been a success worldwide, the praise flooding in from every continent and every critic you could poke a stick at. His choice to finally man up and claim Blair for himself had not come without its troubles, many of his friends shunning him and Blair.

They had taken the plunge and left the Upper East Side for that reason, determined to find another place where they could be exactly who they wanted to be; Daniel Humphrey and Blair Waldorf. Their teasing and scathing attitude remained towards each other, which is what made the relationship work so well for them. She had become much tenderer towards him though. Blair's touch was gentle like his now, and her words no longer split him down the middle like a clean cut with a butcher's cleaver. Her body was becoming slowly softer and more round in areas, filling out gradually into the silhouette of a woman deeply in love. Her messy marriage and divorce to Louis was now over, they had parted with a pact to never see each other again or speak of their time together. Blair had realized her love for Dan only a short while into her marriage and although desperately trying to avoid it, she had given into temptation more than once. Sneaking around was almost impossible given her royal minder and Dorota, but she had managed to talk to him at least once a day to touch base and remind him of how she was counting down the days until her divorce for his benefit.

Blair had decided to take a job as the director and spokesperson for a brand new charity that was just beginning in the UK, the British branch of the Celia Rhodes Memorial Foundation for Cancer Treatment and Prevention. The name was long, but the organization had been receiving good press from Blair's involvement. The donations flooding in from A-list celebrities, high-end businesses and large estates was enough to fund new Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy rooms for at least 8 hospitals. Blair had more than enough money to keep herself living more than comfortably for the next four generations of Waldorf children, but she needed something to do with her day while living so far away from everything she once knew. That's not to say they hadn't run into adversity in London. Londoners were on par with Upper East Siders when it came to being Ice Queens and Snow Kings. Dan always laughed it off, nicknaming the phenomenon 'The Dollar Effect'. The more you have, the less willing you are to reveal to others. Blair and Dan had made a few, select friends in their area, thankfully.

Eleanor was only two and a half hours away from Blair, Paris and London were so easily connected by the Eurostar tunnel. Their other friends were mostly native Londoners, spanning over the city center. Blair did favour her NY expatriate friend base though, the ease of flow with conversation really made her so much less homesick. Dan never understood homesickness; he had his whole life with him. She slept in the same bed as him, ate breakfast with him, held hands with him as he walked down Piccadilly, made the same jokes as him, and every time he said he loved her, he knew he was loved too.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**_**First of all, thanks to the two reviews I received in this time. LondonElite, I thank you for unleashing your honest opinion about this story. To answer your questions, first of all there will be very little or no Chuck Bass in this story. To be totally honest, I despise Chuck. Why should I have to write from the perspective of a character I don't like and can't relate to in any way? I may cover the situation with Blair and Chuck in a later chapter or incorporate him in a temp supporting role but that's definitely all he'll amount to in this story. Second of all, I will attempt to more deeply dive into the real personality of Blair, but the prologue was just that; a simple introduction into the background story and setting. No one is expected to launch into a full introduction, story and conclusion within a prologue. With doing that there would be no point to writing the rest and I could just pack it in now.**_

_**You're right, I'm not from the UK and I have a pretty good idea of how the country works in various ways but nowhere near a native Englishwoman. I can't very well write that Blair and Dan have moved to a town of 1.8 million Bogans in the ridiculously huge empty expanse known as South Australia, so I have to take a few chances writing about a place I don't know and I don't live in. This whole story is to explore whether Blair is happy as she is with Dan, or is she yearning for her more exciting life back on the UES, and does love REALLY conquer all when it comes to starting a new life with someone else? Phwew, I never expected my author's note to be quite so long, but I do aim to answer all questions posed by reviewers. :)**_

**CHAPTER TWO**

_Top of the morning to you, Upper East Siders. Word around London town far, far away is B has a package that'll need delivering. She's not expecting it to arrive in the next couple of days thanks to Fed Ex express international postage though; I predict it'll arrive within a nine month period. Sources say she's keeping it under wraps until she decides to accept the delivery or return to sender. Good luck B and Lonely Boy, that package is going to change you forever.  
xoxo, Gossip Girl_

Blair's blood started to boil as she read the latest Gossip Girl blast infecting her inbox. How did she find out these things? The move to the UK was supposed to be one of relief, being far away from the evil clutches of GG and the Upper East Side. She pushed the Playbook angrily off her lap and it landed on the bed next to her with a light thud. Bringing her knees up close to her chest and throwing herself back onto the mattress, she opened her mouth. "Dan, Gossip Girl knows. That means the rest of Manhattan does too, now. What are we going to do?" His head quickly popped out from the bathroom. "What do you mean, Gossip Girl knows? It's impossible for her to know, we haven't told anyone from New York about it." Dan protested. Blair tried to keep a non-descriptive expression on her face as she thought back to her messaging Jenny on Facebook a few days earlier. She was going to ruin that girl's life all over again if she couldn't keep her mouth shut about the simplest things. Blair could connect the chain of communication in her head instantly. Jenny would have told Eric, who would have told Jonathon, who then would have spread it like wildfire through the Upper East Side's teenager base. Anyone could have tipped off Gossip Girl from that collection of people. People wondered why she decided to leave Manhattan and Blair was amazed they couldn't work it out for themselves from this very situation.

Her mind drifted idly as she waited for Dan to get out of the bathroom. She'd convinced him to accompany her to a party for the CeCe Rhodes Foundation that night, after plenty of threatening and pleading. Dan was becoming more antisocial and shut off by the day, his patience with others shortened significantly by the frustration he experienced with his severe writers' block. Blair had aspired to be so much more than what she was now with the foundation. She had dreams of one day taking over magazine companies and television stations, maybe even starting a new magazine named after her. But for now it'd have to wait. She had more pressing issues at hand, being in a new country was hard enough, but running a massive household by herself, the charity, a wedding to plan and a baby on the way, Blair could predict she was going to be busy for a while with all of this nonsense.

Blair wandered over to the wardrobe. What would she choose for tonight? She had a habit of buying dresses she loved that she wouldn't even manage to wear out once. Tossing her head over and re-twisting the towel into a turban-like wrap on her head, she prepared to delve herself into her huge cupboard. She felt like wearing green, or floral; something loose to distract from her rounded stomach, naturally. Blair was going to have to come clean soon; she couldn't keep wearing fashionable sacks out and avoiding the subject. Dan was more than ready to tell everyone, but even he knew that he didn't have the reputation that Blair stood to lose with this news. "A baby to lonely boy?" they'd all say, "Whatever happened to her living happily ever after with Chuck Bass?"

Blair couldn't even bring herself to speak of the situation between her and Chuck. He'd betrayed her big time. This wasn't some hooker he'd spent a lonely night with; her whole relationship had been thrown away on the whim of another Upper East Sider, a girl with reasonably new money that had made her fortune from owning race horses. She was pretty and even Blair would admit that, but the way he'd dumped her was cold and detached, the way he did it best. Blair wouldn't so much as look at him after that, seeing him with that other woman made her physically sneer whenever they came within a 3 mile radius of her. She'd fallen into Dan's arms shortly afterwards, but came to realize that he was what she'd been looking for that whole time she was dancing around the stain in the rug with Chuck. The decision to move had been easy and she'd broken off her ties with her friends and family so quickly. Nate had thrown himself into his newspaper, Serena vanished to California with a new company and her mother was already living in France. Blair was sick of the Upper East Side, to be honest. She'd picked it apart, turned it upside down and had been ready to call it quits.

Dan calling her name snapped Blair out of her train of thought. "Blair, is this a tie-tie thing, or a bow tie thing?" he asked, holding up two of each. It took her a while to get her bearings. "Definitely a tie thing Dan. No bow ties tonight." She replied. "Wear the dark grey one; it'll go with more of my dresses." Secretly, Dan liked Blair telling him what to do, what to wear, who to network with and what to drink at these kinds of functions. He let her easily hold the power in the palm of her hand. It kept fighting at bay and she knew that when he listened, he soaked it all in. He liked the sound of her voice resonating in his mind, her sugary tone slightly commanding but still full of adulation for him. Dan was head over heels in love with her, and he wasn't afraid to admit it to anyone who came knocking at his door with the definitive question. With Dan it was all in or all out, no halfhearted effort at a relationship like he had done before there was Blair. He'd never understood the problems he faced with other girls. Why wasn't he as into them as he should have been? Other guys would have killed for a chance with Serena and Vanessa. Dan busied himself with his tie, alternating between that and tucking his shirt in. He'd always been a bit all over the place; he could never stick to just one thing at a time.

An hour had passed and Dan was standing patiently at the door, hoping Blair would appear in the next year to leave with him. "Blair!" he shouted softly up the staircase, "We're going to be late for your own party. How's that going to help you out at all with donations?" It wasn't long before he heard the light rumble of high heels on carpet as she whizzed down the stairs, smoothing down her hair and checking her bag again. "You know, we need to start hiring some help, Dan." Blair whined, "It took me twenty minutes to sort out all of my clutches into colour order so I could match one with my dress. If Dorota was here, she would have already handpicked it for me. We need a maid around here, I'm sick of stacking the dishwasher myself and having to fill the washing machine and..." she paused and shuddered, "having to clean out the sink once you've shaved. You're really furry, I hope you know that." Dan gently pushed her out the door as she complained, locking it behind him. She twisted around to look at him as he marched her towards the awaiting taxi, counting out all of her complaints on her fingers with no signs of letting up anytime soon. "Blair, if that's what you want then you can start ringing agencies tomorrow. For now, we need to get to this event. The longer we stay here is the longer we have to stay at the party, which is more time I can't use writing at home. Let's go!"

They piled into the car and Blair took out her phone. "Okay, let's list all the things we want the help to do. Washing, cleaning, sorting, tidying… Do we want someone who can cook as well? Maybe we'll hire someone separate for that." She contemplated out loud. "Hey, we don't need someone to cook. I can cook!" Dan protested quickly. Blair patted his hand, "Humphrey, there's a difference between being able to cook and being able to cook well." She cooed to him, feeling a sulk coming on. Dan collapsed a bit in his seat and pushed his legs apart, swaying his knees out to the side and back. Blair pursed her lips and sighed, checking her blush in a small compact mirror. "Don't sulk, Daniel. It doesn't suit you. You're much more of a tempestuous, ominous type." She clapped the mirror shut and shuffled her bag around, then settled it on the seat next to her. Dan sat up again and motioned to her gently until she slid over the seat to nestle into his side quietly. He put his arm around her and kissed her forehead, breathing in her scent deeply. They sat in silence until the cab arrived at the function center and they mutually parted, ready for a night of fake smiles, fake laughter and fake appreciation. The English hid their hostility so much better than Americans, with their polite attitude and their constant offerings of cups of tea.

She exited the cab after Dan, taking the hand he offered to help her up off the low seat. Was her dress too close-fitting? Had the stylist done the right thing with her hair? Did she look satisfied enough for the various press figures standing about? The encouraging squeeze of her hand from Dan told her without words that it was all going to be okay. She painted on her poised face and stood up straight, marching into the party with her arm linked through his. Tonight she'd made a decision. Everyone was going to know she was pregnant; everyone was going to know that she was marrying Dan. Blair couldn't keep these obscured anymore and she didn't want to. She slowly moved her cautiously positioned hand carrying her clutch away from her stomach and smoothed out the material against her abdomen, stopping herself from intentionally sucking her tummy in to keep it more flat. Blair quickly swapped her engagement ring from her right hand to her left, admiring the sparkle for a second and then hitching up her dress to climb the short staircase. Crunch time, Blair Waldorf. It's now or never.

**So let me know what you think, and review! :) Chapter 3 is on its way in the next few days.**


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thank you all for the lovely, encouraging reviews. It's so nice to get regular positive feedback in my inbox and it really encourages me to write more. I'm glad there are so many Dair fans out there. I know they're not the __favourable__ couple but there was a scene in this season with those two walking along towards the priests' townhouse when Dan said "we can't keep doing this, Blair". The way he looked at her and the love between them and that was essentially the start of this story and my love for Dair. I now have an adorable five week old kitten that thinks distracting me from writing is totally cool so it's been a while since I posted, and I've just broken up with my boyfriend. Let's get this show on the road!_

**CHAPTER THREE**

Blair flopped back into the luxurious armchair in the sitting room, and rather unceremoniously threw her shoes off to settle in properly. She grabbed her Playbook off of the coffee table and flicked the screen, waiting a second for the search bar to appear. As of that moment, Blair had been totally clueless about names. She only had a few months to choose at least a few names from the extensive lists her mother had helped her put together, but nothing was grabbing her. Dan refused to have anything too outrageous for a name, so she had to cancel out the fruits, neon colours and exotic places groups. She could do the noble thing and name the child after one of their parents? Blair shuddered at the thought of naming her child Rufus. She pondered about names she actually liked for a baby, and although she'd been pregnant before, names had never really entered the mix at such an early stage. With Louie she wouldn't have had a say in their child's name, he or she would have been given one of the family names and that was that. Blair tapped at the screen, scrolling through the hundreds of names on this site. Her child could have a French name, or a Norwegian name, or even named after one of the US states. It needed to sit well with Dan too, of course. She couldn't stay on it too long though, today was the day Blair was interviewing housekeepers to run the place. Blair couldn't stand not having someone to do her menial tasks, and in her opinion filling the dishwasher once was one time too many for Blair Waldorf.

It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes later that the doorbell went off, breaking the silence in the huge townhouse. Excellent, her fifth candidate was five minutes early, which was usually a good sign. Blair was putting her shoes on when she saw Dan reach for the door handle and invite the lady in to sit on the winged armchair in the hallway. She was impressed by his manner towards the candidate; Blair knew he was less than impressed about hiring people. Paid Intruders, he referred to them as. Blair finished doing the buckles on her shoes and quickly passed the mirror to smooth her hair into place again and readjust her headband. She straightened her scarf, checked her tights for any ladders and then confidently strutted out into the hallway to meet the candidate. Blair was greeted by a short, stout woman in her early thirties, with some wispy hairs plastered into place with what looked like industrial grade hairspray. Her nails were long acrylics, boasting glittery plum tips with three small diamantes stuck onto each one. Her heels were high and the fronts were pointed dangerously, warning children and small animals not to get in her way as she'd march from room to room. She'd poured herself into a tight pencil skirt that stretched around her thighs and just finished above her thick knees. Her sheer stockings glistened in the light of the hallway and Blair looked her up and down as if she was their meal for the night.

Blair motioned to the sitting room, "Please, come and sit down." She sweetly offered, and as the woman walked past, Blair shot a look at Dan. Dan obliged and also took a seat in one of the armchairs. After all, she'd be looking after Dan's space too. Blair lowered herself into the chair daintily and folded one leg over the other carefully, smoothing out her top as she did so. Dan had placed himself pretty sloppily into the other chair, sinking into the backrest with his legs apart, one foot balanced on the other now turned on its side. His arm half hung off the chair as he ran his other hand through his curly mop of hair. This woman seemed fine to him, but it was Blair's call. Blair cleared her throat and smiled again, "Do you have any references with you…" She picked up the woman's resume off the pile and peered at name on top of the first sheet, "Edith?" the woman nodded, and the voice that emerged from her was not what Blair had expected at all. Edith's thick Northern accent filled the room as she confidently answered Blair, "Yes ma'am, Edith Robinson. Originally of Sunderland in the North, I've been living in London for close to ten years now. Moved with a family and once I left their employment I just stayed here. I have no interest in being married again or having children, so I'm free to pack up and move if you do so." Blair nodded as she spoke, writing the occasional note on her Playbook. Dan made the occasional noise of approval as his mind went into overdrive while thinking about his book that he should be writing instead.

Blair opened her list of questions on the Playbook, scrolling through them quickly. "So Edith, do you have any objection to being a live-in housekeeper? I'd like someone who can stay here all the time. Not work all the time, but it would just be convenient to have someone who can be around to start at 7AM on the dot and finish at whatever time they need to. This house has a separate entrance to the back bedroom, which I think would be perfect for a live-in housekeeper." Edith looked delighted at the prospect of living in the house she was currently sat in. Out of the five housekeepers the agency had sent over, Edith was looking like the most promising one of them all. Blair levered herself off the armchair and Dan soon followed. "Edith, would you like a tour of the house? I'll ring the agency later today and tell them I've chosen one of the candidates for the job." She had resigned herself to the fact that Edith was possibly the most genuine, organized person the agency was going to send over, and she wanted someone right now. Blair would probably even grow to like her in time. Edith was no Dorota but maybe Blair needed a change now that she was in a different country, and all of the eastern European people sent over just made her homesick and pine for her former housekeeper. Change was definitely a good thing, right? As they all climbed the stairs, Blair listed the thing she wanted done in the next week.

They stopped at each room, "In the next few days I'd really like to have the other bedrooms set up for guests. All we have done at the moment is the master, one guest bedroom and two of the bathrooms with all of the reception rooms downstairs furnished. I'll be here to direct and help, of course. I'd also like the study to be cleaned and organised for Dan's work, I have a party organised for the house in two weeks' time and I've invited most of the people living in this street as well as some colleagues from where I'm currently working, and other people such as Dan's agent and publisher." Edith nodded as she inspected the rooms, occasionally picking up an item or clicking her tongue disapprovingly. Dan eventually feathered off into the study to work some more and Blair was left with Edith in the lounge again. The newly appointed housekeeper settled down onto the couch again to discuss pay and conditions with Blair, who was more than happy to let her have 8 weeks of leave if she could help to find a suitable nanny when the time came. "It was great meeting you, Edith. I'll see you on Wednesday to start." They both walked to the front door and said their goodbyes. As soon as the front door had clicked closed she darted back up the stairs to the study. As she opened the door, Dan was swinging around on the swivel chair, his head tipped back towards the ceiling. "So" she started, sitting on the plush winged armchair in the corner, "What did you think of her? I'm counting on her to make sure the house is absolutely perfect. It's going to be so nice having someone else to do all of that housework for me. If I see another dishwasher tablet or dustpan and broom I'll probably scream."

Dan sighed and turned back to the computer, "Blair, we were fine without someone helping us. Housework isn't that bad." He shuffled his pages, aware of the possible storm that was going to hit next. To his surprise, Blair just sighed and sat back in the chair. "Dan, let's not even start this. I have other things to do than clean and cook. I want to be out with the charity, having a cocktail with the girls from the committee, shopping. I don't have time to be a housewife, if you want one of those I suppose you'll have to find someone else." She pushed up off the chair and made towards the door, but Dan caught her before she reached it. "Waldorf, why would I want anyone else? I love you." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead, keeping the things most precious to him closer than anything else.


End file.
